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You usually know what you're getting with an Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie--enormous, violence-laden set pieces, snappy if not clever dialogue, and Arnold as a prototypical fascist force of nature. Total Recall, Eraser, End of Days, and the Terminator flicks all fall into that general pattern, as does his latest movie, The 6th Day.

In this adventure, Arnold is Adam Gibson, a helicopter pilot for a local ski & snowboard adventure company. He takes wealthy clients to exclusive mountaintops where they can indulge their passion for thrills. One unfortunate day, Michael Drucker (Tony Goldwyn, Ghost), a media billionaire who also has a passion for the potential of cloning human beings, signs up. Something goes terribly wrong, however (exactly what happens isn't clear until much later in the movie), and somehow Arnold returns home to find a cloned version of himself celebrating his own birthday party. As if that weren't bad enough, a team of hit men is also on his tail.

You see, cloning is illegal; and if anyone finds out there are two Arnolds, well there'll be hell to pay. Fortunately for Arnold, the hired goons--led by typical bad-guy Michael Rooker (Bone Collector) and Matrix-inspired Sarah Wynter (Lost Souls)--couldn't hit the Sears Tower with an SUV. Of course, Arnold is the proverbial human death squad, kicking butt and taking names. Along the way, he hooks up with co-worker Hank (Michael Rapaport, Lucky Numbers) and later with his own clone which, in a stunning piece of casting, Arnold also portrays.

It doesn't take a genius to know that the final climax, all 40 minutes of it, will involve a showdown with Drucker at the latter's high-tech headquarters. Don't worry, I'm not giving anything away here. Though the movie initially tries to make it seem as if Drucker's motives are altruistic, his all-black clothing and artsy-fartsy glasses peg him as our movie's villain.

In fact, the only surprise I had while watching The 6th Day was when the PG-13 rating appeared at the end of the film. As Yosemite Sam might say, how in tarnation did that happen? There are copious amounts of violence and gunfire, dozens of deaths including one neck-breaking that's quite gruesome, fleeting nudity, and some genuinely creepy moments in a tank full of comatose-like bodies. There's also the requisite swearing, including a couple words that routinely provoke an R-rating. Somehow, the MPAA decided that none of these elements disqualified the kiddies from walking into the theater. Or maybe it thought that the philosophical discussions on the merits of cloning outweighed everything else.

At first, I thought that the movie's heavy-handed exploration of cloning's benefits was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. The opening credit sequence invokes the book of Genesis, no less, and then alerts us that the film takes place "in the near future, SOONER THAN YOU THINK." This and the discussions Arnold has with his clone are awkward at best and fatuously humorous at worst. The movie's press material alerts us, however, that "The 6th Day gives audiences a dynamic glimpse into an unpredictable near future. The contemporary thriller raises exciting questions about the scientific advancement of cloning." Yeah, and X-Men pulls back the curtain on the future of mutation. If the movie's saying anything about cloning, it's that it's bad unless we could have two Arnolds.

Arnold himself is actually pretty good in the film. There's a welcome sense of vulnerability, and his interactions with his onscreen wife and daughter (played by Wendy Crewson and Taylor Anne-Reid) ring true. And his one-liners are often funny. There's a particularly nice variation on his famous "I'll be back." Goldwyn as the movie's villain reminded me strangely of Roger Ebert's new sidekick Richard Roeper, though I have no idea whether that's good or bad. Robert Duvall, who's making an unfortunate habit of appearing in low-quality blockbusters, has a bit role as the head scientist with a conscience. The rest of the cast doesn't have to do much but scream, run around, and die.

The action sequences, which occur incessantly after the movie's initial 25 minutes, are handled with journeyman-like efficiency by director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies). Though they don't raise the bar of movie excitement, they should satisfy audiences who can't get enough of the summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, the film's special effects, particularly involving a remote-control helicopter, seem inferior by contemporary standards.

When all's said and done, fans of Arnold will probably have a good time. Not as good as the Terminator movies or True Lies but better than Eraser or End of Days, The 6th Day goes through the motions and delivers the goods. 

J. Robert Parks 11/13/2000